More than 150 Catholic clergy sexually assaulted at least 600 childrenfrom the 1940s to 2002 in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, in the northeastern United States, according to a report released Wednesday, which accused the Church of “complicity.”

Among the 156 alleged pedophiles are priests, deacons, professors and seminarians who have committed “heinous and repeated abuses”.according to the Maryland state attorney’s report, which details how they frequently abused parental or community trust.

“The sheer number of abusers and victims, the depravity of the abusers’ behavior, and the frequency with which known abusers have been allowed to continue to abuse children is incredible,” the prosecution’s report said, despite being officially released. does not constitute an indictment. .

The duration and scope “They were only possible thanks to the complicity of those responsible for leading the Church and protecting its faithful,” to blame.

Leaders of the Archdiocese “they repeatedly rejected reports of abuse and showed little or no concern for the victims,” maintains and specifies that “They did not sufficiently investigate the complaints and made no effort to identify other victims or confirm the alleged abuses.”

According to this study, they “transferred known abusers to other positions with equal authority and access to children” and focused “at all costs on ensuring that the abuse was concealed.” The number of victims was “probably much higher” than 600, he estimates.

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The actual figure “is certainly much higher”, say the authorities, reminding that only a small proportion of abuses are reported.

For its investigation, the Maryland prosecutor’s office relied on hundreds of thousands of documents and in testimonials from victims and witnesses. The vast majority of those involved are named, but many have died and therefore cannot be prosecuted.

After publication of the report Baltimore Archbishop William Lori issued his “sincere apologies” to all “survivors”. It is hard to “imagine such evil deeds actually taking place,” but “they did,” he said in a statement.

He promised that this “reprehensible period” in the history of this archdiocese would not be “hidden or forgotten” and assured that since 1993 “all abuse complaints have been transferred to the police” so that it cannot happen again.

This study is the result of investigations opened in 2018, as in many other states, after a shocking investigation in Northeast Pennsylvania.

That report revealed acts of pedophilia committed by more than 300 “predatory priests” against at least 1,000 children, who had been covered up by the Catholic Church. The result shocked the country and many states found that there were thousands more victims.